Assorting-machine.



J. H. SMITH.

ASSORTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 20.1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

if I IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIH wuemtoz JanzesHSmLZ/b W-Mmeww THE COLUMBIA RLANCIGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D. c.

J. H. SMITH.

ASSORTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 20. 1913.

1 179,570. Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

U3 9} 19 J) 1 v a! '7}? W 1-5 o f V @vvvmtoz James/fSInvLiiL W KW hisawm f THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 20., WASHINGTON. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. SMITH, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 J. HUNGER/FORD SMITH COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

AssoRrING-MAoHINE.

Specification of LettersPatent. Patented A 18 1916 Application filed October 20, 1913. Serial No. 796,105.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES H. SMITH, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Assorting- Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de scription of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the reference numerals marked thereon.

The present invention relates to assorting apparatus and while having other and more general fields of usefulness, is well adapted for such assorting as is involved in separating unstemmed or only partially stemmed portions of fruit, such as cherries, from the stemmed portions with which they are commingled. In the usual manner of stemming cherries, as they are prepared for market, acertain small proportion are left either partly or wholly unstemmed, and the prime object of my invention is to provide a mechanism adapted to handle the cherries rapidly and to separate automatically and with certainty the unstemmed ones from the main mass that are stemmed. To this end I provide a moving carrier shown as a large drum, presenting a sloping surface at a cherry receiving point adapted to permit free rolling cherries-i. 6. those that are properly stemmed, to roll downward to one delivery point, the drum carrier having a slow movement moving the cherries in a direction opposite to that in which they-tend to roll from the receiving point, whereby those cherries which are non free rolling i. e. which have attached stem portions, are carried by the movement of the carrier upward until in the drum form shown they pass over the top and are discharged down on the other side at a separate delivery point. It is to be observed that in this assorting operation, I take advantage of the free rolling capacity of the'articles shown as cherries, when they are stemmed, and that the invention is thus adapted to' assert various commodities wherein free rolling specimens are to be separated from those that are non free-rolling, by reason of stems, projections or roughness.

The above and other specific objects of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and will be thereafter pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of amachine wherein my invention is embodied; Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal, vertical section; Fig. 4'is an enlarged detail section on line 44 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail section on line 55 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 6 is a detail side elevation of a chute located between the delivery device and receiving drum. Similar reference numerals throughout the several figures indicate the same parts.

Upon a suitable framework 10 I mount a chute 11 or like source from which the cherries are fed. At the lower delivery end of this chute I journal a roll 12 having a plurality of lengthwise rows, shown as two, of

cherry receiving pockets 13 therein, the roll being mounted in close juxtaposition to the delivery end of the chute so that the cherries are automatically delivered by gravity into said pockets, as they come opposite the end of the chute.

Beneath the roll 12 and with its axis 14 somewhat in front of the axis of the roll, I mount for rotation a large drum 15, having a series of V-shaped grooves 16 extending around its circumference, these grooves being in vertical alinement with the several cherry receiving pockets 13 of the roll 12 respectively, and of a size so that the cherries are adapted to settle down thereinto some little distance, as best seen in Fig. 4. These grooves receive the cherries and hold them in separated lines so that they do not interfere or tend to clog up in rolling on the drum.

In use, the roll 12 is rotated to intermittently deliver the cherries from the chute 11 into the grooves 16 and the drum 15 is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 3, quite slowly, with the result that as the cherries are deposited into the grooves 16, some little distance back of the top thereoffowing to the rearward mounting of the roll 12, the stemmed cherries will roll backward down the drum 15 as indicated at a, faster than they are moved forward by the drum 15 finally dropping into a receptacle 17 in position to receive the same at the back of the drum. The unstemmed or only partially stemmed cherries, however, have their rotation prevented or interfered with by their projecting stems and scars moved tor-ward by the rotating drum as seen at b,

so thattlzey are ultimately discharged into. I,

a receptacle 18 pro ided therefor'at the front of the drum; The free rolling cherries are v limited strictly to a rotating movement upon the drum by means of the shape of the groove 16, the sloping sides of which pref erably meet at an acuteanglewhereby the opposing'surfaces of the groove walls form a two-point support contacting with the cherries only upon opposite sides of the same, thus reducing to aminimum'the frictional resistance oilered by the walls of the groovein supporting the cherries. In this way sidewise or shifting movementof the articles within the grooves is obviated, which, if not overcome would tend to retard the free rolling movement of the bodies upon the drum. The pockets inthe roll 12 areso constructed as to deliver only one cherry at a time to each of the grooves 16 and one.

As shown, driving impulse is'imparted to the drum from a band wheel 19 and from thence to the roller 1:2 by a band connection 20. It is,'oi course, to be understood that the proper rate of rotation oi? the drum15 to attain the described result, may be easily determined by trial and observation.

If desired there may be employed a delivery chute or slide located between. the rollandthe drmn 15, as'shown' particularly in. Fig. 6, the purpose of which is to receive the articles from the pockets in the roll 12, and direct them rearwardly relatively to the direction of rotation of the drum 15. The inclined chute or slide is indicated. by 6 in Fig. 6, and its lower or discharge end which lies adjacent to the periphery of the drum 1:? is normally closed by the gate Z) pivoted at provided with the operating arm (Z which cooperates with the im e fixed to the a is of the roll 12, the surface of said cam so formed in respect to the pockets 13 each time articles are deposited onto the slice (i This arrangement of the'parts I consider adfrantagcous in some instances as it permits the speed of the roll 12 to be increased and prevents the cherries being deposited on the slide from being thrown by the centrifugal action imparted to them beyond the point on the receiving drum 15 of the roll 1 that the gate will be opened where'they will, iffree to roll, gravitate in the direction opposite to the movement of said drum. The impetusiimp'arted' tollithei a ticles by thelr .movemen't. I-downathe inclined surface of the slide is checked by the gate I) which when opened permits said ar- "ticles to pass out and fall gently onto the drum '15.

lVhil thedescribed embodiment of the invention is deemed preferable on account of its extreme simplicity and efiectiveness,

I am aware that the invention can be emboched 1n various other speclfic forms without de )arting from the spirit thereof and I l .i l 1 therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered as, illustrative and not restrictive and refer to the appended clalms, rather than to the fol-c ping description to indi-.

catethe scope of the invention. I also de-v sire it to] be understood. that the reference to cherries as the commodity being assorted is merely for illustrative purposesand that the ,mvention is intended to include mechanism for analogous asserting operation where nontree rolling specimens are to bev sepa-v ra ted from relatively free rolling ones.

I claim as my invention: v p

1. An assorting machine comprising a rotatable drum having a series of grooves about its circumference formed by inclined meeting surfaces, a movable delivery roll spaced. a substantial distance from the drum at the forward side thereofand provided with a series of individual article carrying pockets iorintermittently delivering one an ticlc at a time to each of the grooves of drum, and means toroperating the delivery roll and the drum.

2. sin assorting machine for separating two classes of articles, one being free-ro1ling and the other non-rolling, the machine comp'z'i a rotatable drum having a series of grooves about lllS circumference formed by inclined meeting surfaces serving to form a livervbeing tied after th previous de-' livery has in *ed QVAY from the receiving point of that m, the movable deiiverv member and the drum.

hr. VVILLA'an RICH, linssnim B. GRIFFITH.

.6. means for operating" JAlvEES H. SMITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of ?ate nts,

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